


Mending All the Broken Pieces

by Riennynn



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Ianto / Tosh friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-30 13:53:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riennynn/pseuds/Riennynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rainy night and an alien chase lead to a worse-than-usual death for Jack.  Meanwhile, an injured Gwen at the hospital with Owen thickens the plot.  </p><p>Ianto and Tosh are left to pick up the pieces and wait for Jack to wake up.</p><p>Angst, affection, and Jack/Ianto/Tosh cuddles.  Also contains Ianto's mysterious flat and lots of hot tea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rain, Rain, Go Away or Owen's Usual Complaints

“Why does it always rain when the Big Nasty Aliens show up on our doorstep?”  Owen’s voice cut through Tosh’s furious typing and muttered comments on binary signals and digital conversions.

“It’s Cardiff, would you rather we were choking on London smog?  Because I’m sure we can reprogram one of the satellites in orbit to broadcast ‘Better sightseeing near Big Ben’ to all incoming ships.” 

Owen met Ianto’s eyeroll in the rearview mirror and answered with a huff of his own.  A snappy response, however, was cut off as the SUV rounded a corner on two wheels before skidding back onto the road.  “Bloody hell Harkness, we don’t all come back if you crash this thing!”

Rather than replying, Jack spun the SUV into yet another impossible turn, voice as calm as if he were lounging at the boardroom table.  “Tosh, any luck on that device?”

“Just one more – yes, that one – hang on…”

“We’re within two kilometers of the signal,” Ianto didn’t look up from his PDA, “Jack, you might want to keep your eyes on the road,” quirking an eyebrow at the hand which snaked over to briefly squeeze his knee before returning to the wheel

“Tosh?!”

A tiny cascade of sparks showered onto Owen’s lap from the metal contraption in Tosh’s hands and he cursed loudly, batting them out with more force than necessary.  “Watch the goods love, I plan on using them later.”

Completely ignoring the tiny sparks continuing to fizzle from the exposed wires, the woman on his right snapped one last piece in place before the vaguely football-shaped device glowed an eerie purple.  “Got it.  Jack, it’ll emit a disabling pulse on a variable-wavelength, multi-frequency beam, but the energy discharge will require a ten minute window for the power cells to recharge.”

Gwen turned back forward from where she had been rummaging in the boot, brandishing a modified rifle.  “Meaning…?”

The SUV skidded to a halt, water fountaining up around the wheels.  Jack slapped off his seatbelt and turned to face his team.  “Meaning, we’ve got ten minutes after disabling the first one before we can take down the second.  Remember that bullets won’t stop them, but might slow them if you can concentrate fire on the lower left part of their bodies.  Whatever you do, DO NOT let them get behind you.  They like to reach around and claw bodies open.”

“Wonderful.  And do they spit poison perhaps, or carry lasers?”  Ianto’s dry voice accompanied him clicking a fresh clip into place in his gun.

“Worst case,” Jack’s voice took on a grim edge, “I’ll play bait while you all stay the hell out of the way.  These aliens don’t only strike to kill, they like to eat internal organs.”

“Mmm, death by disembowelment.”  Owen warmed to the subject, “Did you know, the human body can sustain massive amounts of damage, and as long as there isn’t fatal blood loss-“

Gwen racked the rifle once, looking a bit pale around the edges.  “Oi, Owen, is this supposed to make it any easier to kill them?”

“Signal is less than two hundred meters to the southeast,” Ianto cut in before Owen could craft a suitably snarky response.  “Anything else we should know?”  This time his voice was devoid of any irony. 

Gwen stepped out of the SUV, tossing a second rifle to Owen.  The medic was still muttering dire things about Welsh weather as he tucked his pistol into the back of his jeans and shouldered the larger gun.  The door slammed shut with more force than necessary.  “Let’s get these buggers down so we can get back inside before we all catch pneumonia.” 

Ianto paused, one foot on the pavement, meeting Jack’s eyes across the center console.  “Jack?”

“Yeah,” Jack popped open the driver’s door, pulling his greatcoat collar up against the downpour and watching Tosh carefully strap the device to her forearm, “they usually hunt in pairs.”


	2. Divide and Conquer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best time for a hunt is in a rainstorm. On the other hand, divide and conquer is a universal concept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay between updates! RL intruded, my other plot bunnies took me hostage until I fed them, and uhhh...errr...yeah.

Tosh frowned at her scanner.  "Now reading two signals, Jack."  Her boot heels clicked sharply on the asphalt, ignoring the rain and her rapidly-sodden ponytail.  

"I don't suppose-"

She cut him off before he could finish the sentence.  "No, I don't have another one of these anywhere.  We're just going to have to wait the ten minutes between charges."

Jack paused for a moment, watching the blips on Ianto's PDA before looking over at the possible routes mapped out on Tosh's screen based on streets and alleys.  "Tosh, you go with Gwen and Ianto.  Owen, with me.  We'll take the one that's headed southeast.  The three of you, follow the one going west.  Hang back until you've got it cornered and keep your comms on."

The rain let up slightly, enough that Jack wasn't worried about skidding into a brick wall.  Slightly behind him, Owen kept up a constant stream of muttered invectives that Jack relegated to background noise; a silent Owen would be as out of place as a Weevil at a debutante ball.  Not that they hadn't had a few close calls...

His comm beeped to life, Ianto's voice steady and punctuated with the sounds of three pairs of feet.  "Ours is stopped by a rubbish skip about fifty meters ahead.  Looks like a dead end."

Reaching a T-intersection, Jack flipped the cover open on his vortex manipulator, sweeping it in a wide arc until the signal picked up again.  "Tosh, what's the range on your toy?"

"Three meters, maybe four.  But I need a clear line of sight."

Ianto chimed back in, "If we fire on it, will it rush us or run away, Jack?"

They rounded the corner, cloaked in shadows.  Jack held out a hand to stop Owen from moving out of them as a glimpse of a scaly purple tentacle appeared at the end of the alley.  The alien looked to be testing the brick wall for weaknesses, probing with a razor-tipped tentacle.  Not taking his eyes off the creature, Jack replied, "Three of you might startle it long enough for Tosh to get in position.  They're pretty aggressive once the initial shock is over though."

"Got it.  We'll - hang on - Gwen, what are you doing?"  Ianto's harsh whisper spiraled up into a warning cry.  "Get back - Tosh!"  A muffled click, then the sharp report of Gwen's rifle and Ianto's pistol cracked through the night, echoing down the alley.  

Tosh's "Got it!" and Gwen's cut off scream sounded almost simultaneously.  

"Owen, get here, NOW!" Jack could hear the panic in Ianto's voice, and he felt his heart stutter at those words.  Ianto, ever calm, was struggling with his composure.  

"Owen, get over there.  Tosh, I need you here with me," he hissed.

Watching the medic take off back the way they'd come at full speed, Jack settled back into a crouch against the wall.  He might have had both eyes on the creature, but his thoughts were for his team.


	3. Chapter 3

For three tense minutes, the only noise coming over the comms was Owen's breathing and the sound of Tosh's heels as she ran.  Jack assumed Ianto had muted his comm, and the thought both bemused him (Ianto, the ever-considerate, leaving the line open for essential communications) and worried him greatly.  

At last, Tosh slid up behind him and Owen cursed as he reached Ianto and Gwen.  "Bloody hell.  Ianto, give me your jacket.  Gwen love, look at me, look at me, eh?"

"Owen, how bad?" he demanded as loudly as he dared.

"Shut up and let me work, Harkness.  There you go love, just hold that there.  Just a bit of a scrape really.  We'll have you right in no time.  No, don't close your eyes."

Purple tentacles swirled down from the wall and Jack wondered just which of the Powers That Be had such a perverse sense of humor.


	4. Dancing with Death, or How Jack's Bad Day Got So Much Worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: violence and gore

Before him, the alien roiled between the alley walls, tentacles clicking dangerously.  Jack swayed on the balls of his feet, Webley leveled for a lower quadrant shot, ducking each time one of the tentacles took a swipe at him.  He danced forward, keeping Tosh in his peripheral vision all the while.  

"Jack," Owen sounded terse, clipped, and that could only mean that Gwen was seriously hurt.  "She needs hospital."

He dove to the ground, coming up on one knee and firing.  "Take the SUV and get her help.  We'll be fine."  The next swipe connected with his calf, and he hissed in pain.  The hot blood soaking into his sock was an afterthought as his mind automatically calculated angles and distance.  He deflected another blow, taking the force with his left forearm and wincing as the bone cracked.

Tosh held up two fingers the next time he glanced over.  Closer.

Duck.  Roll.  Slide.

The Webley was out of bullets.  Jack felt fire and ice rip through his bicep above where his left hand hung uselessly.  

Tosh's horrified expression when he used the same arm to parry a strike that tore his coat sleeve from the shoulder and his arm from its socket.

Almost there.

A blue flash as the device powered back up.  Unfortunately, the alien noticed it too, and broke off from its attempts to circle behind Jack, heading for easier prey.  Tosh had emptied her gun on the other creature and shrank back, fingers still moving over the control panel even as she retreated.  Wedged as she was between two half-walls, there was no room to turn and run.

One minute.

The creature raised a tentacle.  

With a burst of speed, Jack threw himself between Tosh and the creature, registering the impact of its body with a pained grunt.  Saw the blood drain from her face three feet in front of him while behind him, the alien slipped closer.  Fought against the scaly embrace as one claw neatly eviscerated him, digging deep into his gut.

Struggled to remain conscious as his own intestines spilled out.  Felt his kidneys dislodged from his abdomen, ribs splintering aside.

Thirty seconds.

Movement flickered at the edge of his vision, and Ianto appeared at the mouth of the alley, rifle raised.  Heard the sickening crunching noises above him that could only mean his organs were being devoured.

Ianto's face twisted into a snarl of rage.

The high-pitched whine of the device as a cone of light sprayed out the front.

Tentacles falling away, ripping through his heart as they let go.

Darkness.

 


	5. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Gore and the aftermath of violence

Tosh fought the urge to be sick as the alien slit Jack's abdomen open and brought a kidney up to its mouth the same way Owen might devour a bacon sandwich.  Only this scene had viscera garlanding a scaled tentacle while Jack's uninjured right arm made an aborted feeble motion as if he could hold his own organs in.  She was certain she could see her Captain's frantically beating heart pulsing amidst the broken ribs and shattered sternum, above a lacerated liver leaking a steady stream of dark blood.

She barely registered Ianto's appearance in her peripheral vision, unable to tear her eyes away from the horror playing out in front of her, fingers moving on automatic as they fired their weapons simultaneously. 

A hot spray of arterial blood painted her face and chest as the creature fell, taking Jack with it.  

"Oh, my God," her own voice sounded distant and far too calm as Tosh moved forward, slipping on the trail of intestines.  She started to check for a pulse, realized how ridiculous it would be in this situation, and instead sank to her knees beside Jack's body.  Ianto crowded in at her side, rifle slung over his back and face pale with tension.

"Owen."  Ianto tapped his earpiece.  "Owen, status on Gwen?"

"Surgery," the medic's clipped voice replied.

Ianto raised a hand, warding off whatever Tosh was going to say next.  "We've got the other one.  Stay with Gwen.  We're fine."  He turned to face her fully, waiting for the click signaling the connection was closed.  "Owen can't do anything for Jack right now.  Best that he helps with Gwen."

A flare of irritation rose in Tosh.  "What are we supposed to do then?  We can't just leave Jack here -"

"My flat is close, Tosh.  He'll do better to wake up some place familiar, and clean.  Help me?"  She watched as Ianto efficiently bundled Jack in his greatcoat, not bothering with any of the bloody mess around his body.  A quick search located the Webley, which was snapped back into its holster.  "I'll text Martha and have UNIT come clean up."

Tosh looked down at her bloody hands, focusing on the rain spattering down faster now.  "At least the rain should keep anyone from wondering why we're hauling a dead body into your flat."

 

 


	6. Ianto's Flat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We never did get a chance to see Ianto's flat.

Thankfully, it was less than a kilometer to Ianto's flat in a quiet neighborhood.  Ianto had buttoned Jack's coat up all the way, hiding his mangled torso from casual observation, and held his body under the arms while Tosh managed his feet.  The one couple they did pass on the way down the street lost interest after hearing Ianto's loudly-voiced plaint about "damn drunken sots", continuing on with bemused smiles.  Tosh couldn't help but wonder at the ease with which Torchwood carried on its operations under the noses of an unsuspecting populace.

They stepped from the downpour into a neatly tiled entryway, pausing to allow their eyes to adjust to the low lighting.  "Should we - " Tosh started to ask where they should set Jack down (there was no way she was going to think about him as a dead body), trying to decide if Ianto would want her to leave her boots at the door.

"It's fine.  Bathroom, I think.  Down the hall, left side."  Apparently Jack superseded muddy floors. 

The bathroom was mercifully close, as all two hundred plus pounds of sodden wool and dead weight (Tosh's mind recoiled from that term) made themselves apparent.  "Adrenaline," she muttered, shaking her head when Ianto frowned at the stray thought.

Together they lowered Jack into the bathtub below the shower, clothes and all.  Tosh abruptly collapsed onto the lid of the toilet, watching mutely while Ianto carefully removed Jack's boots.  She schooled herself not to flinch when the coat was unbuttoned to reveal the extent of Jack's injuries in the fluorescent light.  Ianto disappeared briefly with the coat, returning clad in only his briefs and carrying a bin bag.

"It'll be easier for me to clean Jack up this way.  I should have asked if you wanted the shower first..." he trailed off, looking downward studiously.  

The smears of color high on his pale cheekbones told Tosh that it was more an attempt to preserve her modesty than any self-consciousness on his part.  In all honesty, she had never thought of Ianto in that way at all - more like a little brother than anything.  With a shrug, she shouldered out of her own jacket and started unbuttoning her blouse.  "It's fine.  Do you need help?"

Ianto paused in unclipping Jack's braces, brushing aside the shredded remains of the once-blue shirt.  "I can normally manage, but I'd appreciate it, Tosh."  Shirt and trousers went into the bin bag, braces slung over the towel bar.  "If you'd like your clothes laundered, I can put them in with mine later."

Her own clothes piled on the counter, Tosh was checking the pockets of her trousers for a hair tie.  "Here."  Ianto proferred a large butterfly clip from the vanity drawer.

"Thanks, Ianto."  She swallowed past the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat.  The clip had to have been Lisa's.

With a sigh, she popped the clasp on her bra.  "You sure this is alright?"

From his crouch on the bottom of the tub struggling with Jack's socks, the young man barely blinked as she waved the undergarment for emphasis.  "Jack will be upset he missed this."

* * * * * *

The shower spray was reassuringly warm, although Tosh wondered if it was more lukewarm on chilled skin.  Her eye skated over the shattered ribs, noting the ugly gaps where Jack's organs should have been nestled.  "Does he heal all at once, or is it slow?"

Ianto directed the spray over them both once before using it to wash the blood from the bottom of the tub.  "Usually it's at once, but I've not seen him with injuries to this extent.  Probably slowly.  It could take a few hours."  He looked up, noticed her averting her gaze as he rinsed below where Jack's navel should have been.  "He won't mind if you look, you know."

It was her turn to blush furiously.  "It doesn't seem right, not when he's like this."

He passed her the showerhead, pointing to the bottle of shower gel balanced on the ledge.  "Go ahead and wash up if you like, I'm going to need to soap Jack down then have you help me turn him."  Wordlessly, Tosh handed him the bar of soap next to the shower gel.  This must have also been Lisa's, she thought, noting the apple-scented bubbles.

It felt good to scrub the blood from under her nails, wincing as the water ran down in diluted trickles of rust from her face and neck.  Jack's blood.  She shuddered briefly under the warm water, deliberately focusing on Ianto tenderly washing Jack's long legs.  He glanced up at her, and with a saucy wink, set to lathering up the Captain's groin.

Definitely as impressive as his ego suggested, she caught herself pondering the hairless sac as Ianto rinsed.  

"Rather lovely, isn't it?"

Reddening again, she shook her head and sprayed Ianto in the face.


	7. Tea and Talking

Maneuvering Jack's body was certainly easier with two people, Ianto mused.  Together, he and Tosh had washed away all traces of blood from all three of them and dried themselves before adjourning to the bedroom.  Laid out on the sheets, Jack should have looked peaceful.  The void in his torso made the scene almost surreal as he passed Tosh a t-shirt and pair of boxers to slip on before peeling out of his own soaking wet briefs and stepping into sweatpants.

Steeling himself, he leaned closer.  His mind automatically counted ribs (seven missing, one broken sternum), superimposing the locations where organs should have been (liver half gone, one lung ripped out, kidneys missing, heart torn).  The intestines hadn't started regrowing, and he wondered if he should be worried if Jack woke up with half his digestive system missing.  With a sigh, he pulled an old towel from the dresser and wrapped Jack's torso in it, hiding the wounds.  He pulled the duvet up around Jack's hips (Tosh was still stealing what where meant to be covert glances) and checked the clock.

Ten thirty PM.

"How about some tea?"

* * * * * *

Tosh leaned on his counter while the kettle boiled, looking lost in the t-shirt.  It was one of Jack's undershirts, and the shoulders hung halfway down her upper arms.  Lisa had always preferred to sleep in the nude, so he hadn't had any women's clothes to offer her.

Lisa.  His hands measured out the correct amount of tea, setting out sugar and milk while his mind wandered.  Ianto had braced himself for remembered pain when he'd handed Tosh the hairclip, or when she had opened the shower gel.  Instead, the twinge of deep sadness remained, but not the overwhelming grief that he normally associated with all things Lisa.  So much had changed since he'd lost her.  So much of that had to do with Jack, now lying still on his bed.

"It doesn't feel right to leave him in there alone."  Tosh's voice brought him back to the here and now.  She stirred sugar into her tea, eyes distant.  "Should we sit with him?"

He thought about it as he returned the milk to the refrigerator.  "If you'd like."

* * * * * * 

"Do you mind?" Tosh asked once they were settled back in the bedroom, one on either side of Jack's body.  The warmth of the shower was wearing off, and his skin was rapidly cooling.  Ianto watched as she tucked the duvet closer around their Captain, not bothering to remind her that it wouldn't help if he had no body heat to be trapped under the covers.

"Mind what?"

"Jack.  Does it ever bother you?"

He took a few sips of the tea, letting the chamomile warm the pit of his stomach, before reaching over to envelop all three of them under the duvet.

"He's Jack.  He flirts as naturally as breathing.  It would be silly for that to bother me."

Tosh set her empty tea cup down on the nightstand, catching his hand where it rested over Jack's collarbone.  "I didn't ask if it was silly."

Ianto set his own cup aside and slid down further, using his own body to warm Jack.  "He comes home with me, Tosh."

She rested her chin on Jack's shoulder, wondering at the strange circumstances that had brought her into bed with her best friend and his lover / their boss.  The long day was catching up with her, and she closed her eyes.

"Okay."

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cuddles abound

The digital display read 2:37 AM when Tosh blinked her eyes open next.  She'd woken around midnight to use the bathroom, noting that her wet clothes were missing and the sound of Ianto's dryer.  The man himself had been checking underneath the towel, frowning.  He'd peeled it back far enough for her to see that Jack's organs were regenerating, but so slowly that she wondered if he would be whole before dawn.

Jack's skin had warmed from theirs, which meant that if she thought about it hard enough, she could pretend they weren't in bed with a body (thank God rigor mortis didn't seem to affect him).  It didn't feel as odd as it should have, she thought as Ianto's light snores ruffled Jack's hair.  With his scent drifting from the pillows and sheets, it was easy to close her eyes again and fall back into slumber.

* * * * * * 

"Martha called," Ianto informed her when she woke again at 4:12, a cup of fresh hot tea waiting on the nightstand.  "She says UNIT cleaned up the mess, and that Jack should call her when he wakes up."  The towel was gone by this point, and Tosh could see the skin over his chest and abdomen was whole again, although it sagged as if the muscles and organs underneath were still filling in.  "I also checked with Owen, and he says Gwen is stable, although NHS wants to keep her another day until they're sure the wound is closed."

She caught herself tracing idle patterns over Jack's arm as he spoke, and stopped abruptly, wondering if the intimacy of the gesture was improper.

"He loves us all, in a way, Tosh.  It's fine."

Picking up her tea, she clasped Jack's hand in her own and they drank in comfortable silence.

* * * * * * 

Ianto quirked an amused eyebrow as he watched Tosh snuggle closer to Jack in her sleep, throwing an arm across his chest and pressing her face against his neck.  There was something purely innocent about it, as if she was seeking reassurance even while unconscious.  He smoothed the covers and carefully lifted Jack's arm to pillow his head more comfortably on his shoulder.  It shouldn't be long now, maybe an hour or so.  

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto and Tosh have another serious conversation.
> 
> Jack revives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My muse finally returned to add another chapter.

Darkness, endless and empty.  Heavy blackness, and he wandered through it alone, always searching.  

Vaguely, he became aware of weight.  He had a body, arms, legs...twin weights resting on his shoulders, warm and vibrating gently with speech.

Two different but equally beloved voices, fuzzy at first, stole into his consciousness.

"Why do you let her do that, Ianto?"  The weight on his left shoulder shifted, tucking his hand around the slight curve of a trim waist like a familiar blanket.  If he could remember to use the muscles in his face, he would have smiled.  Ianto.  The name sounded awfully familiar, a rush of warmth filling the darkness.

The weight on his right shoulder sighed.  Something soft and feathery tickled his...nose?

"Do what?"

"You know.  Stop playing dense, you're too smart for it.  Gwen.  She walks all over you, makes cow eyes at Jack, then expects you to treat her like royalty."  The voice on the left was sounding seriously peeved with familial outrage.  He wondered who this Jack was, and how the voices were related to him.

A warm hand rested on his chest, stroking affectionate circles on his sternum.  Was he breathing yet?

"She's no threat, Tosh."

The voice on the left must belong to this Tosh.  He had a fleeting impression of dark hair hiding bright eyes, pear and freesia perfume.  

The Tosh-voice held a growl.  "I know that.  But why do you let her think she has the right to everyone and everything?"

Ianto-voice sighed again.  "What good would it do to try and tell her otherwise?  Jack feels she brings something necessary to the team, when she can be bothered to rein in the impression that she's always right.  It doesn't matter."  

On his right side, feet and legs twined around his calves.  He had legs then, apparently.

Tosh-voice softened.  "I hate seeing it.  It's not fair."  A smaller hand landed on his chest next to the larger one.  They certainly felt nice, he decided.

"No," Ianto-voice sounded wry, "it's not.  But she can say anything she wants, do anything she wants, and I trust Jack."

He really wanted to know who Jack was to inspire such a discussion.

"Have you always?"

He would have held his breath, but he didn't think his lungs were working quite yet.  What made this Jack so important?

"No.  But he came back, Tosh.  And we've...worked on things."  Ianto-voice almost whispered the last part.  "I trust him now."

He wished he had eyes to see what was going on.  There must be some sort of look exchanged.

Silence then, the breathing coming from Tosh-voice evening out.

"Jack," Ianto-voice murmured, "come back."

Whoever Jack was, he sure was envious of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gwen's self-centered holier-than-thou act has always peeved me. Someone needed to call her out on it, and Tosh seems like she would want to, but also not want to rock the boat. Ianto is pragmatic about things.


	10. In Ianto's Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unlikely trio tucked into Ianto's bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite where I had envisioned this going, but Tosh and Ianto insisted.

He revived with a deep breath, limbs jerking as it felt as though all his neurons were firing at once.  Light pierced his eyelids, the world at once far too vivid a burst of color and scent.

"Shhhh, Jack.  We have you."  Hands cupped his face gently, stroking his hair.  Other hands - and since when did Ianto grow another pair, or use the royal plural in talking about himself? - squeezed his biceps while he gasped and his racing heart settled down.  

He finally registered where he was (Ianto's bed), and who was with him (Ianto and Toshiko).  Two dark heads hovered in his view, matching expressions of concern and relief on their faces.

"Hey kids," he managed, "looks like I'm back."

The two exchanged a bemused look.  "Welcome back, sir," Ianto's voice caressed the words, infusing meaning into the syllables.  "Nice of you to join us again."

Jack frowned.  "Do I want to know how long I was out?"

Twisting to look at the clock behind him, Ianto propped himself on his elbows and raised an eloquent eyebrow.  "All night and most of this morning.  It took a while for...everything...to grow back."

He grimaced as the memories flooded back.  "That has got to be one of my least favorite ways to go.  Sorry you two had to see that."  One hand drifted up on its own to stroke Tosh's hair in a comforting gesture while he mentally locked away the agonizing sensation of having his own entrails eaten.  He tugged them both close again, planting a kiss on each forehead.  

"Thank you for taking care of me."  Ianto merely smiled at him, squeezing his fingers.

"Tosh was a big help.  You're quite heavy when that coat of yours gets wet."  He settled back against the pillows, pulling the duvet back up from where Jack had kicked it aside and sharing a secretive smile with the woman on the other side of the bed.  Jack was intrigued, but willing to let it lie until both of them were clearly less exhausted.

Tosh snuggled back down, and Jack was suddenly aware that while she was wearing a shirt (and was that one of his undershirts?) and doubtless had some sort of clothing on her lower half, he was completely naked under the duvet.  Never bothered by his own nudity (or the reactions of others to it, unless it got him killed), he was more concerned that his body was reacting in its usual way to reviving in Ianto's arms when they had company nearby.  In fact, unless he rolled over to hide it, that knee she had slung up at his hips was going to make contact with - 

"Oh my!"

\- too late.

 


	11. Pillow Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were three in the bed and the little one said, "For goodness sakes, Jack!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't end the story there.

"Oops?" Jack offered a bit weakly.  He searched Tosh's face for signs that he was able to receive a knee in the bollocks.  Strangely, she seemed less self-consciously shy than expected.  Was that a hint of guilt he saw?  Definitely time to nip it in the bud.

"Hey, come here," he caught her shoulder as she made to turn away, aware of Ianto's presence in his peripheral vision, silent but supportive.  Jack hoped he wasn't about to receive a kick from the other side at his next words.  "I really don't mind, Tosh.  You're...special to me."

"To us."  Ianto's voice was warm and non-judgmental as he leaned over Jack's chest to emphasize the point with a squeeze of her hand.  "And sorry about that, I should have warned you what happens."

Tosh bit her lip but settled back down, carefully ignoring the slight tent in the duvet.  She stifled a sigh as Ianto casually threw his own leg over Jack's hips, watching as Jack's pupil's dilated further in the low light.  How could they radiate such matter-of-fact sensuality?

"Would you two like some time alone?  I can go out there," she waved vaguely in the direction of the kitchen and lounge.  One part of her hoped they would say yes and allow her to escape the embarrassment while another desperately wanted to forget all about this.  A small voice whispered in her head that maybe they might also say no, that she could stay.

The two of them seemed to be having a silent conversation in meaningful looks and raised eyebrows.  Finally, Ianto nodded and both fixed her with intense gazes.

"You don't have to go," Ianto smiled, stroking his fingers down her arm.  "In fact, we'd rather you stayed."

Tosh thought her jaw couldn't drop any lower.

Picking up the thread of conversation, Jack's arm tightened around her shoulders.  "We don't have to do anything if you're not comfortable.  Or we can, if you'd rather."  He fell silent, a small smile curving his lips instead of the usual Harkness megawatt-grin.

It took her a few tries to find her voice.  "Are - are you saying...?"

"You're our Toshiko," Jack continued, as if that explained everything.  "We love you just as you are, and we hate to see you lonely."  He placed a finger over her lips as she was about to protest that she didn't want their pity.  "It's not about feeling sorry for you.  If anything, we're sorry all those other people out there don't know how wonderful you are.  But I think you can appreciate that this," he made a gesture to include Ianto and himself, "is something you don't put a label on."

Jack fell silent then as she processed what he had just said.  

One - Jack and Ianto loved her, in some way.  Definitely more than the usual 'we're a team and in this together' affection.

Two - They weren't offering a pity shag.  She wasn't sure she could handle any more pity after hearing what Gwen and Owen really thought of her.

Three - Unless she was mistaken, Ianto had just agreed with Jack that they could include her in their...whatever it was.  Surreptitiously, she pinched herself to make sure she was definitely awake.

Both men were watching her expectantly when she finally surfaced from her inner thoughts.

"Just for tonight?"

It was Ianto who answered.  "If that's what you want.  Or it could be more.  We don't have to put rules on it unless you'd like."  Whatever else he might have said was interrupted with a yawn, and Tosh was reminded what a night they'd all been through.

Daringly, she leaned down and brushed her lips over Jack's cheek, then Ianto's.  "I'll think about it.  Ask me again in the morning?"

Their smiles followed her back down into slumber.

 

 


End file.
